


Under the Rain

by inviernos



Category: Final Fantasy XV
Genre: F/M, HighSpecs, slight spoilers maybe
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-02
Updated: 2017-07-02
Packaged: 2018-11-22 08:06:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,336
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11376060
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/inviernos/pseuds/inviernos
Summary: Ignis gets the chance to get to know Aranea a little better one night at the Vesperpool and discovers that her idea of passing the time really isn't that bad.





	Under the Rain

Ignis never had a problem sleeping in the tent.  The others always thought it was surprising with all of the coffee he drank, but his body knew when it was time to go to bed.  Maybe he had developed a tolerance to it, but whatever it was, it didn’t matter as long as he could still manage a few hours of rest.  And now with Gladiolus having temporarily left them, and the unintended perk of added space inside to sprawl out, he was even more excited to get to bed after his watch ended.  He didn’t particularly mind having to be in such close quarters with his friends, but bumping into each other in the middle of the night when you’re just trying to get some rest was less than ideal.

They did have the addition of Aranea out here in the Vesperpool, but she didn’t take up nearly as much room as Gladio. 

Ignis had had his reservations with Ardyn’s _coincidental_ appearance when they had reached their current location.  And he had a whole other set of concerns about having Aranea around, but they had more or less been put to rest when she had reassured them at Steyliff Grove’s entrance.  He prided himself on his intuition and either she was really good, or she simply was just being paid to “train” them. 

Really, he just was not one to make someone who was there to help sleep outside.

Noctis had been the first to head to bed, no doubt eager to claim his own space in the tent.  Prompto stayed up with them until he was obviously nodding off in his chair.  He’d had no problem being his usual talkative self the entire time Aranea had been with them, and she seemed to take a liking to him too.  He was a stark contrast to Ignis’ earlier demeanor, where he was still feeling everything out.  He had been too quiet and he knew it.  It was obvious to Ignis that Prompto didn’t want their conversation to end, but eventually he had stopped fighting how tired he was and headed into the tent. 

And at last it was Ignis and Aranea.  He wasn’t sure if he had expected her to head off to bed early with the rest of them, but he didn’t mind her company.  Ignis had felt like his silence on the walk to the haven had been off-putting and if they were going to be working together, this was his time to remedy that. 

The air felt a little different once he was alone with her, Ignis wouldn’t dwell on it though.  It was to be expected.  They hardly knew anything about each other; of course things might be a little awkward.  He would find some way to break the ice, but for now his current concern was getting the dishes out of the way.  Though he could tell she was waiting to say something.

“So…” she began, “do they always leave you to pick up after them?”

“Usually,” Ignis replied, trying his best to keep his tone neutral.

His face was suddenly feeling much warmer and he wasn’t sure why.

“But I can assure you I don’t mind.”

“Figures.  Hey, so what happened to the other guy that was with you?” she didn’t miss a beat, and somehow Ignis wasn’t surprised.

“He had some business to attend to own his own.  I believe he’s on a hike to clear his thoughts.  But he didn’t spare much detail,” Ignis replied.

He heard her let out a snort.

“Listen…I was serious back there,” she began, “I’m not going to relay your royal secrets to the empire or anything.  I’m just making small talk here.”

“And I’d have to repeat that I do believe you.  But honestly, he didn’t tell us much about what he was doing on his time off.  Your guess is as good as mine.” Ignis smiled to himself as he continued washing up.

“Oh,” she replied seemingly satisfied with his reply.

Ignis heard her boots move across the ground and then she was suddenly on her toes, hovering over his right shoulder again and looking down at the dishes.

“Do you want any help with that?” she asked.

“Don’t be silly.  You’re our guest here,” Ignis shook his head.

“Wow, you Crown City boys sure know how to treat a girl.  I get a hot meal and a space in the tent?   _And_ I don’t even have to help clean up?”

He laughed at her sarcasm, honestly amused, but continued.

“I appreciate the offer, but you don’t have to wait up for me,” he turned his head to look down at her by his side; she didn’t flinch and met his gaze.

“Feel free to head off to bed if you’d like.”  Ignis was just barely able to conceal his breath catching in his throat.

She shrugged, looking much too happy with herself, and moved to sit down in front of the fire.  But now there was a glint in her green eyes that he hadn’t noticed before.

He didn’t want to admit to himself that she was starting to make him nervous.  And not for the reasons that he had once considered.

“I kinda expected we’d be down where the action was a lot earlier,” Aranea spoke louder than his thoughts.

“I guess I’m getting antsy over here.  Guess I just need something to do,” she continued.

Ignis caught just the end of a smile on her face as she looked up to meet his eyes once again over the fire.

He shrugged the implications off.  There was no way.  They had only officially met just several hours ago.  Though if Ignis was honest, he wasn’t typically the best at picking up on cues from anyone attractive.  No, it had just been too long since he had spoken to someone one on one like this.  It just had to be another situation he reading too much into.  It was the price of being too analytical.

_Not that he’d be opposed to the idea._

Ignis was not a fool.  And Aranea was very attractive, but he didn’t know much if anything about her.  He could change that through simple conversation.  But it wasn’t his style to start something with someone he had a very low chance of ever seeing again. 

Now wasn’t the time or the place anyway.  Especially considering one of them would have to take watch soon.  And Ignis knew it would be him since his manners wouldn’t allow him to see Aranea not get any rest before tomorrow.

He turned his focus back to the plates in front of him.

“Well,” he continued in a steady voice, “we did get a bit off track, on our way around the area.  Noctis was right when he said that it might be best for us to rest up after what happened.”

Thank the Six, he found a way back to the manner at hand.  Ignis did agree with her, he would have preferred to be in and out of Steyliff as quickly as possible.  But of course Steyliff Grove was sealed with magic, and of course they had arrived at the Vesperpool with too much time to spare earlier in the day.

“He’s a cute kid, but does Prompto always lead you guys into sahagin nests or what?”

Ignis silently thanked her for sticking to the subject and shook his head at Prompto’s previous antics.  He only meant to take a few pictures of some more scenic areas of the Vesperpool to pass the time, but between his poor navigation and the constant rain, they definitely had reason to be a little less accommodating of his hobby next time.

“We did reach the haven in one piece, didn’t we?” he joked.

Ignis finally finished up his cleaning and feeling much more comfortable, sat down on the cooler across from her with his mug of coffee.  He took a sip and raised his eyebrows in her direction.

“Besides, your sniffling seemed to have stopped long ago.”

“It must’ve been that magical tea you made us when we got here,” she sighed wistfully, though Ignis could tell she was trying very hard to make it sound that way.

But he was very glad that the tea he had made for everyone to help with their post-rain sniffles had done its job.  It was a special blend he had always drunk whenever he had a cold and it always made short work of them.  He knew he wouldn’t regret bringing it along on this trip.  And he had always considered the blend a bit magical.

“Speaking of…how much coffee do you even drink?” she got up and examined the contents of his current mug.

“I saw you crack a can open when we got here, and then you drank one while you were fixing dinner, and now…this,” she gestured at his cup. 

“Do you even sleep, dude?”

“I sleep just fine at night,” he looked just slightly past her and shook his head over his cup.

“Whatever you say, Specs.”

She sat down on the ground next to him and he coughed on his next sip.

But of course Aranea had noticed.

“Do you not want me to call you that?” she asked in a way that implied she had no intention of stopping if he objected.

“I suppose I don’t mind.”  He really didn’t.  “It’s just strange hearing it from someone new is all.”

“Well I think it has a nice ring to it,” she smiled back at him.

“Maybe I should get used to hearing you say my name, then,” he said absentmindedly.

He took another sip of his coffee.  Aranea’s shrill and sudden laugh echoed all around the campsite and it clicked.  His eyes widened at what he had just said.

_Oh no._

Things had been going much better in the past few minutes.  The conversation was back to the more boring, but at least it was something.  Nothing anywhere near flirting, and definitely not anything to make him or Aranea feel any more awkward.  There hadn’t been anything for him to overanalyze.

Until this.

“I apologize,” he immediately corrected himself.  He didn’t take Aranea as someone who would be offended by things like this, but he truly hadn’t meant anything by it.

And thank goodness the others hadn’t been outside to hear it.

“I was just…” he stammered.

“Don’t even mention it,” she waved away his concerns.

“That was actually pretty funny.  Didn’t think you had it in you, Specs.”

“Well,” he scoffed, pretending to recover.  “I’m no stand-up but I have been known to make a joke here or there.”

“Of course,” she laughed, “we all get lucky every once in a while, don’t we?”

She leaned forward with her chin resting in her hand, that same smile from earlier on her face now accompanied by a raised eyebrow.  He returned her gaze.  For the first time since they’d reached the haven, he noticed that she had taken the bulk of her armor off.  He wondered how long ago she had done it.  Probably sometime before dinner, definitely not while he had been out here alone with her; but no amount of forced irrelevant thoughts could distract him from how much he was currently aware that she was left in a black tank top and the black pants she wore under her Imperial garb.

He willed himself to get a grip.  She was just an ally who was just trying to make conversation with him.  Aranea simply had to be passing the time, trying to get to know him better.  Nothing more.

“Hmm?” she titled her head to the side and Ignis noticed the piece of her hair that had fallen loose and rested against the side of her neck.

Her smile remained.

“Nothing,” he shook his head, hoping she hadn’t noticed his staring. 

“Are you sure you aren’t tired?” he asked in a tone much higher than he would have liked.

“I usually take first watch, if you want to get some rest.”

“I’m just fine,” she replied, “Besides, I thought we were having fun out here, Specs?  Just the two of us.”

“I’m afraid tomorrow might be a lot less fun if neither of us have gotten any sleep,” Ignis shrugged, continuing to focus his attention as hard as he could on his coffee.

“Alright, alright,” she shrugged, and Ignis could’ve sworn he saw just the hint of a blush flash across her cheeks. 

“I know when I’m beat.  Can’t blame a girl for trying though, can you?”

And there it was.  Ignis praised the gods for not letting his mouth drop open at her comment.  But he was never a fan of ambiguity anyway.  This would be one less thing he’d be spending the night thinking over.  He wasn’t even upset that he hadn’t been the one to bring it up first.  (Not that he would, it would have been better to just leave the questions hanging in the air than to risk offending Aranea). 

But damn if he wasn’t cursing this bad timing.  The less than ideal circumstances.  Everything.

He pondered his reply; not wanting to offend her or sound patronizing until there was a splash on his forehead.  And then something dropped into his mug.

Ignis didn’t get the chance to reply to her.

“Do you still take watch even when the weather goes to shit?” she asked, there was no obvious change in her tone or any other indication that she was annoyed with him.

He took in the image of her by the fire, looking up at the sky as rain fell down and she wrapped her arms around herself.  Her skin was getting more and more wet by the second.  Ignis thought she must be freezing and suddenly felt like he should get something to put around her.

“You should go inside, Aranea,” he said in a gentle tone.

“But what about you?  With how hard it rains out here you won’t have a fire to keep you warm much longer,” her voice was firm.

“Then I’ll just stay out as long as I can,” he answered.  “I do have an umbrella for times like these.”

“Of course you of all people would carry an umbrella around,” she laughed.

“I do like to be prepared,” he smiled back; but it started to fade once he noticed how quickly her hair had gotten soaked.

“Please, you don’t have to stay out here with me,” he gestured to the tent.

“Fine then, I’ll go,” she made her way inside the tent, but turned around again before she closed the flaps completely, “just don’t get yourself sick, okay?”

“I promise.”

Ignis had known what the weather was like in the Vesperpool, but the rain hadn’t seemed to get any worse for the first few moments he had been standing watch.  The sound of the rain always calmed him anyway, no matter how gentle or how hard, and he relished being in it whenever he could.  Even he knew he was being foolish standing outside at night in less than perfect weather, but he needed a few moments alone as he always did at the end of the day.  Not just because of Aranea and the fact that he hadn’t been imagining her flirting with him, but just to process the day’s events.  Although Aranea did take up more of his thoughts than he would have liked once she finally retired to the tent.

_In another time and another place, maybe._

After Aranea had gone inside the rain had let up, but only for a short while, now it was back to the showers the Vesperpool was known for.  Unfortunately for Ignis, it showed no signs of letting up again any time soon, it was now almost like he was standing under a showerhead.  And his well-made umbrella only did so much.  If he chanced it and decided to stay outside for much longer he would most definitely get sick.  He had to escape to the tent, if only just for a moment.  He did have faith in the magic of the haven and the rain deterring anything that might try to get near them.  But he would still try to listen for any sounds of concern.

For now, he just had to get out of the rain.

He quietly entered the tent, unsurprised to see Prompto and Noctis lying at opposite ends of the space, both enjoying their extra room for once.  His eyes drifted over to Aranea who had claimed her own space in the middle of them but closer to Prompto, as he had expected.  Ignis felt an unexpected sigh of relief leave him upon seeing that she was back in dry clothes and sleeping soundly.

Moving as carefully as possible and making sure to keep his distance he crept toward the other side of her, closer to Noctis.  Ignis took off his button up shirt, leaving his undershirt on, and threw a blanket around his shoulders.

Ignis couldn’t help but find himself slumped against the back of the tent as he focused his attention on the sound of the rain hitting the tent and the ambient noise from the swamp.  He immediately realized he would have hell to pay if he brought the tent down in the middle of the night and decided it would be better for him to lie on his back.  The warmth around him was enough for him to forget all of his current responsibilities.  The rain drops continued to hit the tent above him, all around him.  He listened to their erratic pattern and convinced himself that he could still listen past it.  It was alright if he rested his eyes for a second.  He was still aware.

_Just for a second._

Unfortunately Ignis never usually had a problem staying asleep either.  The sound of gentle rain had sometimes helped lull him into a deep sleep on those nights that he had trouble drifting off.  This rain had not been gently pitter-pattering across the tent, but his fatigue wouldn’t let him say no.  It seemed like the bouts of gentle rain were few and far between, but now it was trying to get his attention rather than quiet his mind.  He surrendered to the feeling that he couldn’t stay asleep any longer and stirred for a bit.  He noticed it was considerably colder inside the tent.  He still felt Noctis to his other side, but there was an empty space to his right.

 _“Aranea,”_ he thought, still half asleep.

He didn’t have time to berate himself for falling asleep.  He tried to wake himself up as quickly as he could.  He pulled his shirt back on somewhere in the rush.  He would have known if anything had been amiss in the middle of the night, but there was always that slight chance…

Ignis sprung from the tent, still attempting to put one of his shoes on, when he almost ran straight into exactly who he was looking for.

“Woah, what’s with all the commotion?” Aranea asked, fully awake.

Ignis noticed it was still dark out.  Everything was still wet, but the rain he had heard earlier had more or less stopped.  They couldn’t have been asleep for very long.

“I just woke up and you were gone.  Just wanted to make sure everything was alright,” explained Ignis while fighting off a yawn.

“Well, thanks for the concern but I just had to pee,” said Aranea bluntly. 

“Nothing too interesting, Specs.”

“Ah, sorry for the intrusion.”  Ignis hoped he wasn’t blushing.

“Well,” she shrugged, “could’ve been worse.”

“By the way, the ground all around the haven is flooded and muddy, so if you gotta pee be careful.  Wouldn’t want you ruining those nice shoes,” she said as she made her way back into the tent.

“Duly noted,” he watched her climb inside.

The tent flap opened again and she poked her head out, a curious look on her face.

“Are you coming?” she asked.

“Well I figure since it’s stopped raining I can properly finish my watch,” Ignis looked back at her dumbfounded by the suggestion.

“You cannot be serious,” she rolled her eyes, “but unfortunately I know you are.  Look, we’re pretty much safe over here, just come to bed.  You don’t need to make yourself sick.”

“I’ll be fine,” Ignis waved her concerns off.

He turned his back to another rush of movement behind him.  He found Aranea outside again, sitting in front of where the fire had been lit.

“Dammit,” she muttered to herself.

“What are you doing?” Ignis asked.

“What does it look like?” Aranea replied as she struggled trying to start the flame.

“Listen do you have any…can you just…,” she began to ask.

“I can,” Ignis replied.  “But are you really trying to start a fire when it’s been raining?”

“I…,” she hesitated, realizing what she was doing. 

“No,” she said loudly, “of course not.  I was just looking at these rocks here.  Who starts a fire in the rain?”

She stood up and scoffed as if in disbelief of what Ignis was saying.  There was the most endearing shadow of an embarrassed look on her face and Ignis made sure to laugh quietly into his gloved hand so she wouldn’t hear him.

“Don’t worry,” he said, “we all have those moments.”

She looked right at him again, a small smile on her face from finally being able to laugh at herself.

“I can’t believe I just did that,” she said.

“I can,” Ignis replied playfully, to which she pretended to swat at his arm.

“Hey!”  Aranea’s smile gave it all away.

“Now, what were you doing out here, again?” he asked.

“You can’t be that oblivious.  I’m keeping you company,” she said as if it was the obvious thing in the world.

“But why?”  Ignis was amused by her insistence.  “You should sleep while you can.”

“Well so should you.  You’re exhausting yourself for nothing,” she argued.

“Well,” Ignis shrugged, “duty calls and then I can get some rest.”

“I’m sure.” Ignis saw her roll her eyes yet again before she continued.  “But I don’t think either of those dudes in there are gonna wake up to relieve you any time soon.”

He knew she was probably right.  This was the best tent sleep those two had gotten since the beginning of this trip and he knew almost nothing would get Prompto to wake up before his scheduled alarm.  And he didn’t even want to get started on Noctis.

“Right you may be, but someone still needs to be on the lookout for any signs of trouble,” Ignis was unwavering.

“We’re not going to change each other’s minds, are we?” Aranea laughed and shook her head.  She settled down by the pit where the campfire once was before she spoke again. 

“Just let me keep you company, okay?” her tone softened.

“Well, I guess it never hurts to have a second pair of eyes,” Ignis shrugged and turned to look back into the distance.  Neither of them was going to win this particular battle.

He didn’t know why he bothered to turn around or what he was even looking at.   Nights in the Vesperpool were even darker than dark and he knew his mind was making up weird things for him to see just past the haven, but he didn’t want to make things more awkward (again) by directly facing her.  The only sounds for a long time were from bugs flying around and the small noises Aranea made from trying to make herself comfortable on the cold ground.  He glanced back assuming she had fallen asleep, but their eyes met once again.  Ignis breathed in sharply, they both looked away immediately, but turned back to lock eyes once more.

“Hey Ignis,” she gave him a shy smile.

“Listen…uh.  I’m sorry if I was being kinda intense earlier.  Just sometimes I get bored and there’s a cute guy around and well…flirting passes the time.”  Her voice sounded much smaller to Ignis than he had already previously been used to.

“You don’t have to apologize for anything,” he smiled up at the sky, hoping Aranea wasn’t looking at him, but knew that she was.  He almost hadn’t registered that she had called him cute.

Almost.

“We have different ways of passing the time, I suppose.  But I’m definitely not offended,” he continued staring into the darkness. 

“You’re very…attractive, yourself, you know?” Ignis was feeling much braver under the cover of darkness.

“Wait, what’s the pause for?  What does ‘…attractive’ mean?” she asked and Ignis could almost sense the smile playing at her lips.

“Oh, you are quite attractive,” he clarified, “there has to be a better word for just how.  But it seems I’m too tired to remember it at the moment.”

Aranea laughed from somewhere behind him.  He was glad he still hadn’t turned around to face her.  But he was starting to feel like he should join her.

“Well, thank you,” she said sincerely.  “But when you think of that word you should tell me.”

“And I will.”

Aranea continued, the shyness in her voice shifting back towards the confidence Ignis had been used to earlier that night, “I’m still laughing at the bit about me getting used to yelling your name or whatever.  That was too good.”

“Like you said, we all get lucky every once in a while.”

“Hey Specs,” her voice was much softer than before, “why don’t you come sit next to me?  We both know there’s nothing that interesting out there.”

Ignis slowly turned around to see Aranea under the moonlight with her head titled and patting the spot next to her on the ground.  There was no point in denying her request.  There was nothing worth looking at out there, or anything to be worried about.  Ignis could stay on watch looking for things that wouldn’t be appearing in the darkness, or he could be on watch passing the time with Aranea.  He knew which one he would rather be doing.

“By the way, your hair is totally cute all flat like that,” she smiled at him, “and I’m not even flirting now it just looks downright adorable.”

Ignis was still feeling a lot braver than he was used to when it came to these things and it was getting harder to look away from her.  They definitely had different ideas of what it meant to pass the time, but hers was suddenly much more attractive to him. 

“Oh, are we done flirting?” the corner of his mouth lifted into a smile. 

“Well…if you’re still up for it, we don’t have to be,” her voice was almost bewitching; striking something deep within him. 

“And I am.”

Ignis sat up a bit straighter, she mirrored his movements and they both ended up close enough that their arms were brushing against each other.

They sat facing each other for what Ignis thought was forever.  He hadn’t thought this far ahead yet, but Aranea leaned in first.

“Your move, Specs,” she said next to his ear in barely a whisper.

A soft tapping noise began to hit the outside of the tent, bringing Ignis out of the moment.  He turned his head slightly at the distraction.  Damn his attentiveness.  First there was one.  He felt her hands slide up his torso to rest on his pecs before she pulled at his suspenders to bring him closer.  And then three at the same time.  He was finally aware that the rain was hitting them, but neither made any effort to go back to the tent.  His hands found their way to her lower back.  It was back to one.  She got up on her knees and pulled him even closer until they were flush together and their lips finally met.  The rain drops continued to follow one after the other.  And then the rain seemed to hit all at once.

Ignis slid a hand up her back and felt her shudder.  He took his gloves off and ran his other hand back up to her shoulder blade to rest on the bare skin there.  There was a sudden rumble of thunder, and Aranea flinched slightly against him before laughing against his mouth.

“I’m sorry,” she pulled away and burst into a fit of giggles.

“That was…nice, but holy shit that was loud,” she covered her face with her hands.

“It’s fine,” said Ignis, his tone reassuring before he pulled her into another kiss.

There was another boom of thunder but Aranea hadn’t moved this time; too preoccupied with what she and Ignis were doing.  The rain beating down on them only fueled them on.  Ignis hadn’t had fun like this for a long time.  And for a brief moment he thought about how he should have been colder.  His breathing was getting louder against the rain.  His hair was a mess and his clothes were sticking to him.  His glasses weren’t on his face; she had taken them off long ago.  But every time his mind tried to pull him away, there was Aranea.  He couldn’t think of much else other than her as their lips moved together.  He thought about her lips against his, her tongue in his mouth, her wet skin pressed against him through his wet clothes. 

But the cold was still at the back of his mind, fighting its way to the front and refusing to leave him alone with what he was currently focused on.  He had to make sure she was okay.

“Aranea,” his voice was muffled by her mouth.

“Mmm?” she said without pulling away.

He made sure to speak as quickly as he could.  “Are you co-”

She kissed him again.

“I’m not cold,” she said when she pulled away.

“Are you?” she teased.

Aranea smiled another one of those dangerous smiles at him, “live a little, Specs.”

And he would.  If she wanted to stay out here all night in the rain he could find enough adrenaline in his body to warm them both for the rest of the night, even if it wasn’t the smartest idea he’d ever had.

If he was cold, he never would have noticed with Aranea near.  She tugged at his suspenders, bringing him closer to her once again.  He deepened the kiss and she pulled so hard so suddenly that he almost fell over.  He kept going, hoping she hadn’t noticed, but he felt her laugh against his lips.  Her hands moved back to his chest, resting gently for a second before they made his way into his hair.  Then Aranea slowly broke the kiss, her hands still slowly moving through his wet hair.

“Ignis,” she whispered as she pulled away.

“Hmm?” he asked.

“My knees fucking hurt,” she laughed against him.

“Mine too,” he agreed, before planting another quick kiss on her lips.

“Well,” she smiled up at him, “that was fun.”

There was Aranea looking up at him, what was left of the moonlight shining down on her, soaked from the rain, and flushed from their previous activities.  Ignis had to stop himself from staring, before she smiled at him, bringing him back to earth as they both shifted into more comfortable positions on the ground.

“Done so soon?” he pressed his forehead against hers.

“I think we’re just getting started, Specs.”

The rain continued to pour all around them.  It continued to hit the tent.  It echoed off of the leaves of plants and trees somewhere in the darkness, making way for even greener scenery the next day.  If Ignis listened closely he could hear the raindrops hit the water of the Vesperpool.  The rain had always soothed Ignis, but now he had a new reason to enjoy it.

Ignis would probably be making a lot more of that tea once the sun came up over the lake.

**Author's Note:**

> Honestly tbh I just wanted to write them making out in the rain so this happened ,':)  
> I hope if you made it this far, you enjoyed reading it.


End file.
